Thicker Than Water
by EE's Skysong
Summary: Sentence drabbles. Are we friends? Two thin gashes and their palms slammed together, and Smellerbee had her proof. Smellershot, suggestive


Disclaimer: "Pleased to meet you Take my hand There is no way back from here"

(An: Two challenges from the Smellershot LJ community that I did sentences for. I did them right after the other, so some of them ended up being about the same events. Therefore, I just kind of jammed them together. The first dozen or so are really random, but it gets a wee bit more concise as you go along, I promise. These are all from Bee's POV or about her because I've always found it easier to write her... don't ask me why.)

23 – Seat:

He didn't talk much, but he always left a seat empty beside him at meals.

30 – Laughter:

She made an apt, though vulgar, comment about Sneers, and the laugh just popped out; Longshot covered his mouth like he was embarrassed, but Smellerbee knew she had to hear it again.

1. Mask:

Longshot was very good at pretending indifference- so much that she had to ask him if they were friends.

16. Friendship:

Two thin gashes and their palms slammed together and Smellerbee had her proof.

8 – Sing:

She was positive that she heard someone singing outside her window every now and again, but it made no sense because it was always during Longshot's watch.

17 – Rain:

"Take the umbrella and quit looking at me like that," Longshot said, visiting on her first night of guard duty.

7 – Dagger:

"I keep it sharp for a reason, dummy," she muttered, bandaging his hand

4. Home:

Bee didn't care about location or sentiments- if her friends were with her, she was home.

24. Earth:

"We're not vigilantes, we're just more... patriotic than most people."

48 – Family:

"The Freedom Fighters aren't a family- we're closer than that."

11 – Red:

"The color's the only thing we can take from those bastards, and anything white would just get stained anyway."

11. Doll:

She had never played with dolls; she preferred knives.

14. Children:

She was just a kid, but a weird one; she could climb a tree and steal from a soldier equally well.

20 – Fury:

Smellerbee's anger was like blue fire, harsh and powerful but quickly cooled; Longshot's was like the glaciers of the poles, small on the surface but endless and deadly underneath.

12 – Nightmare:

When you were a Freedom Fighter, you got used to hearing screams in the night.

18 – Kill:

"Animals make more noise than people, so why don't I ever have nightmares about them?"

44 – Feral:

The only walls she didn't hate were the ones Longshot's arms created.

14 – Snow:

Longshot's only rivals with the bow were the Yu Yan, but Smellerbee could always beat him in a snowball fight.

47 – Sharp:

Longshot used words sparingly; he was blunt, and when he was angry, his words were sharper than her daggers ever could be.

21 – Explosion:

The Duke thought blasting jelly was the coolest thing _ever_, and only Bee could convince him it wasn't needed for every single mission.

2. Dinner:

Smellerbee was glad Longshot could cook, since she couldn't, and raw deerhare was about as appetizing as a dead ratsnake.

2 – Kick:

Longshot only raised his eyebrows at the sharp tang of the wine, but Smellerbee was more blunt: "Damn, that's strong!"

29. Teamwork:

Afer watching them fight together, Jet looked sadly at the rest of the Freedom Fighters; "If only you could teach that to them."

35. Translate:

Smellerbee didn't mind being the only one who always understood him; it meant he could never lie to her.

36 – Tear:

After years of mending clothing riddled with tears that were a natural result of carrying knives around, Smellerbee's stitches were almost invisible and pretty much the only dainty thing about her.

31. Make-up:

Longshot was the first one to suggest putting paint over her scars; not to cover them up, but to make them her own.

15 – Shirshu:

One good shot from the other side's archer and a splash; Smellerbee knew she was in the middle of a fight, but she was frozen, desperately praying for Longshot to surface.

24 – Drown:

One hellish moment of doubt, and Longshot and Jet surfaced, gasping; Smellerbee threw her arms around Longshot's neck and demanded why he'd never mentioned he couldn't swim.

10. Swim:

"You'll never learn if you don't get your feet wet," but Longshot only shook his head, eyeing the waves as if he thought they would rise up and swallow him at any moment and Smellerbee herself as if she were mad.

34 – Respect:

"I respect him, that's all," said Smellerbee, but Jet still laughed.

27 – Game:

The first time they fought, beating him was almost too easy, and Smellerbee was quite annoyed when she learned he wasn't holding back, he was just honestly that bad at hand-to-hand.

28 – Win:

"I believe that's Bee: sixty, and Longshot: ...zip- agh!- don't hit me, it's the truth!"

25. Practice:

She nagged and prodded and bothered him into sparring with her because she was terrified of the day she wouldn't be around to back him up.

32. Crisis:

"Longshot, it's a broken arm, not the end of the world!"

10 – Break:

Smellerbee didn't slack off while she waited for her arm to heal; she practiced with her left hand instead, tried to become just as good with it, and joked that this was the only time Longshot would ever beat her one-on-one.

37. Rules:

They had special rules for dealing with each other because they could never quite call each other just friends.

46 – Lovely:

"You know, you're actually rather pretty when you're not trying to be," said Jet casually, and Smellerbee slapped him so hard the bruise wouldn't fade for days; Longshot found her crying by the river and when she explained, he stroked her hair and whispered soothing words, but later he confessed that he agreed with Jet.

20. Present:

Longshot had a strange habit of leaving flowers in her room; when she pressed him about it, he pretended not to hear even as he twined one in her hair.

22. Smoke:

Smellerbee washed herself obsessively, but the smell of smoke only disappeared if she pressed close to Longshot and kept the scent of sap and beeswax in her sensitive nose.

40 – Heart:

The first time she saw Longshot without his shirt, she eyed his muscles with interest, but a small tattoo of a heart with an arrow through it held her attention; when she asked about it, he blushed, fumbling for his shirt, and answered, "It's why I don't drink sake anymore."

33. Rag:

Smellerbee got irritable with her moon blood, but when she explained, "It's that time of the month," that necessitated another, far more awkward explanation, and she was just glad he knew where babies came from, or she might have actually died of embarrassment.

30. Bruise:

He smoothed the balm over her black eye; it hurt, but all she could feel was how soft his hands were.

50 – Masturbate:

One time, she came in on Jet doing something with a part of his body she had never expected to see, and just when she thought it couldn't get anymore awkward (for her, at least- Jet was as cool as ever), it did: "You know, when Longshot jerks off, he says your name."

7. New:

She realized she liked him as more than a friend quite suddenly, when he turned to her and smiled for absolutely no reason while they were sitting outside, and she almost fell off the branch.

4 – Fall:

Longshot steadied her with an arm around her waist, and she was off again, blushing like a fiend.

8. Old:

The little girl tugged at her hand and tried to point out the sparkles on the water that had flooded her town, and Smellerbee suddenly felt very old indeed.

32 – Leader:

For once, Smellerbee told Jet where to go: "Ba Sing Se- it's big, far away, and we won't get into trouble."

26. Change:

When they left, she pressed her face into his chest and begged him to promise that he wouldn't change like Jet, but all he would do was shrug.

27. Map:

"We really need to get out more," Jet whispered; his friends could only gape at the ruins of Omashu, the largest city on their map.

22 – Sand:

"I hate this place," muttered Smellerbee, attempting to get the grit off her knives.

25 – Honor:

Longshot had strange, archaic values; he often challenged people who insulted her to duels.

13. Lucky:

"If luck exists, I've got none," she muttered, and she rolled her eyes when Longshot raised an eyebrow: "You don't count."

36. Color:

Longshot was the palest Freedom Fighter; the first time she kissed him, it was just to see him blush.

38. Hidden:

Longshot was guarded, but she always left herself bare; the naked hurt in her eyes when he broke the kiss was unbearable.

1 – Sting:

Smellerbee remembered how it had felt when the soldier carved her twin scars, but somehow, Longshot could hurt her more.

39. Right:

She avoided him, or she tried to, at least, but when he caught her and kissed her until they were both out of breath, she didn't struggle, because she knew it was the only way he could have made up for what he'd done.

28. Hope:

When Longshot asked her why she hadn't been forthright with her feelings earlier, Smellerbee mumbled, "I need that hope, and I was afraid you'd take it away," and he squeezed her hand, but he couldn't hide the flash of hurt in his eyes

40. Wrong:

"I thought you didn't like me," and he kissed her again, just to prove her wrong.

41. Deep:

"You're the only one who can hurt me," he whispered, "and I'm scared."

35 – Couple:

Smellerbee used to be able to label where she stood with Longshot: first they weren't friends, then they were, and now they were something else completely, something she couldn't put a name to.

6 – Sugar:

She kissed him again and again to get every last bit of sugarcane off his lips; "Greedy," he whispered, kissing her back with just as much force.

42. Treasure:

He treated her with a reverence that Smellerbee thought shouldn't apply to girls with scabby knees and scarred faces... most of the time.

34. Handprint:

Once, Longshot stole her facepaint and left a handprint on her forehead; it wasn't until much later until he admitted, "I wanted to make you mine."

16 – Embarrassed:

Smellerbee was glad of her high collar, since she knew Jet would take hell out of her for the bite mark on her neck.

37 – Bite:

Smellerbee had said that they should keep things lowkey, since it was just them and Jet, but he still liked to leave his mark on her; "Quit being so damn jealous- it hurts!"

3 – Mystery:

"You're beautiful," Longshot whispered, kissing her forehead, and all Smellerbee could do was gape at him.

3. Stars:

"The stars are actually pretty- why don't you gawk like an idiot at _them_?" she demanded, punching him in the arm and trying to pretend she wasn't blushing.

5 – Curtain:

She could see exactly what Jet was doing with the girl behind the screen, and it looked complicated.

23. Tired:

"I'm so sick of this," she whispered, watching Jet talk with Lee.

13 – Medicine:

"You're as crazy as that herbalist we went to see when the Duke had a fever," Smellerbee said, pointing at Lee: "He's not safe!"

15. Mentor:

"It was so much easier when we could just follow Jet and not worry about it."

5. Time:

It was only because Longshot had taught her about patience that she put up with Jet's stupidity for that long.

31 – Silence:

"I love you," he whispered, and for once, she was the one who couldn't speak.

33 – Apology:

"I'm sorry," he mumbled, and now she hated herself for making him think he needed to say so.

45 – Patience:

The same patience that allowed him to stalk a deerhare and never come home empty-handed allowed him to wait for her to admit she loved _him_, not just the kisses.

38 – Pleasure:

The smile on his face when she finally mumbled, "Yeah, me too," was worth feeling like a sap.

9 – Secret:

"I was nervous, all right?" she growled, tilting his face back toward hers; "I'm not good at this."

43 – Territory:

"I've never been in love before- I didn't know what to do," she mumbled, and he hugged her and whispered, "Neither did I."

19. Light:

Smellerbee had always hated the guttering light of torches, but they were all she could use after Lake Laogai.

6. Victory:

"I lost," Jet whispered, and Smellerbee brushed the hair away from his face, trying to hold back her tears as she listened to his labored breathing: "No, Jet, you won- you won."

21. Color:

"White to mourn, and red to remember," said Longshot, giving her flowers to put on Jet's grave.

18. Dark:

Bee had never feared the dark, but after Jet's death she always had a candle lit and Longshot close.

17. Revenge:

Long Feng died a thousand deaths in her mind, each more painful, gruesome, and intricate than the last, but all she could do to soothe her grief was carve Jet's name in every tree and trust in Longshot's promises of karma.

12. Stories:

When Smellerbee had nightmares, Longshot would hold her close and kiss the tears away; she would stroke his hair and whisper epics in his ear to distract him from the bad thoughts.

19 – Ghost-story:

It was only after Jet's death that Smellerbee started to believe in the spirit world; such a bright person couldn't just disappear.

29 – Lose:

When they got older, their battles became more... risqué, and she was just fine with that; she even let Longshot win sometimes.

39 – Pain:

"It hurts," he whispered, but Smellerbee took his hands and put his arms around her, replying, "So does everything else."

42 – Mark:

The first time they did more than kiss, Smellerbee scratched him, understanding his desire for no one else to touch her.

26 – Writhe:

"Don't tease me," he growled, pinning her to the bed; all Smellerbee did was smirk.

49 – Orgasm:

The first time Smellerbee had one, she screamed so loudly that several cats yowled back, but she didn't care because she finally understood why people liked sex.

41 – Nibble:

"You taste good," said Longshot, shrugging and grinning at her; Smellerbee shoved him out of bed, replying, "I think you're just part wolfbat."

9. Name:

"You say you love me, but you snicker whenever you say my full name."

(Yes, that was pointless, but this is the only thing I can post without access to my laptop. Review!)


End file.
